COVID-19 fear scale – translation and validation into Brazilian portuguese

Abstract

Introduction: fear is one of the main factors associated with psychopathological disor-ders evidenced in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective: translate and validate Fear of COVID–19 Scale (FCV-19S) into Portuguese Brazilian version, named Covid-19 Fear Scale (EMC-19). Methods: cross-sectional study with 364 individuals recruited through social networks, considering as inclusion criteria: being over 18 years old and fluent in Portuguese. After participant consentment an electronic form was completed, which included the prelimi-nary Portuguese version and EMC-19, in addition to sociodemographic variables. Data processing was performed using the SPSS 26 version. For parametric measures, Pearson’s coefficient and Student’s T were used, and for nonparametric measures the U of Mann Whitney. The magnitude of the correlation coefficients was classified according to Cohen’s criteria and the confirmatory factor analysis using AMOS 26.0. For internal con-sistency, Cronbach’s alpha. Results: mean age of 33.11 years (±10,047), most of them female (n=332; 91,2%), with higher education (n=286; 78,6%), married (n=225, 61,8 %) and with children (n=300, 82,4%). Exploratory factorial analysis/EFA and confirmatory factor analysis/CFA made. Only one component emerged from the CFA, with an explained variance of 55,49%, re-sulting in a onedimensional model with satisfactory adjustment indexes (X2/ gl=2,135; RMSEA=0,061; CFI, TLI, GFI<0,095). Cronbach’s alpha coefficient is 876. Conclusions: the construct validity of the one-dimensional structure of the EMC-19 was demonstrated, as well as its good internal consistency.